TV companies ageist and sexist, says Harriet Harman

Submitted by Mastodon on Mon, 2013-02-25 18:53

Article here. Excerpt:

'Harriet Harman has written to leading broadcasters asking about the number of older women employed within their organisations, the Labour Party said on Sunday.

The move is part of the Commission on Older Women's work on females in the media and public life, which Harman chairs. The shadow deputy prime minister who doubles as shadow culture secretary said there needed to be "more change" especially in relation to "this combination of ageism and sexism" faced by older women.

Speaking on Sky News's Murnaghan programme, she said: "I think that there is a lack of recognition that actually women's value is not just during their reproductive years or just what they look like.'

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... is upset that there aren't more older women in broadcast media. And maybe one day said older woman will leave politics and need a new job. Hmmm. Wonder what kind of job a former politician might want to get... hmmm... broadcast journalism maybe? OK, I admit to being just a bit snarky here. :)

But as to her specific complaint: I'd like to point out that there aren't that many younger men in broadcast, too. See, viewers have a penchant for watching younger female faces and older distinguished-looking male ones. That may well be due to prejudices centered around the perceived value of an individual, something that is controlled by the limbic system, if not maybe also social prejudices.

Nonetheless, TV's all about ratings. While it's true with only some exception, most female broadcast personalities are younger women, it 's also true most male broadcast personalities are older men. So if broadcast journalism is sexist and ageist vis-a-vis women, isn't it also the same for men, only against younger ones?

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Submitted by Matt on Tue, 2013-02-26 02:02